Art Prize

Art Prize

"Artists are shape-shifters and in this there is a perennial, ferocious hope; the hope which transforms, which whispers of possibility, of vision, of change and radical healing. Existing art about climate change has this characteristic, acknowledging the truth and severity of the issue but also affirming within it something of grace, seeing the starlight within the night." – Jay Griffiths, 2009

Art Exhibition

In celebration of the Flannery Centre's opening, artists across Australia were invited to create a piece of artwork that responds to the following statement:

Humanity is now living in ways which outstrip the capacity to provide an equitable, healthy lifestyle for future generations.

With 7 billion people a number of planetary boundaries have been reached which will drive fundamental changes to the way we live and work.

The statement above is the driving force behind the development of the Flannery Centre.

Artwork could take any (permanent) form and be designed for an indoor or outdoor space. More than 50 entries were received from throughout New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.

Winning Artwork - The Prize

The winner of the inaugural Skillset's Flannery Centre Art Prize and the cash prize of $5,000 was Hornsby artist, Mary Dorahy with her screenprint on folded Visy board work titled 'Cypress: North West'. Her work was inspired by Cypress forests, which are among the only remaining native forests in western NSW and which many land managers legally clear as invasive scrub.

Mary believes events like this exhibition give artists the opportunity to express ideas about the critical environmental issues that confront us all. “Like poetry, visual art has the ability to condense big ideas into beautifully concise and powerful statements,” she said. “It gives voice to and supports realizations about fostering a sustainable future.”

Mary is currently Head Teacher of Fine Arts and Ceramics at North Sydney Institute of TAFE – Hornsby College. She has had extensive solo and group exhibitions over the past decade and won numerous prizes, including the Jacaranda Drawing Prize.